FEDERAL AGENCY:

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

AUTHORIZATION:

Family Support Act, Title V, Section 505, as amended, Public Laws 86-778, 88-452, 90-265, 99-190, 100-485, 104-193, 106-554 as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1310.

The purpose of the JOLI program is to make grant awards eligible to organizations that will test and evaluate ways of creating permanent full-time employment and business opportunities for welfare recipients and other low-income individuals through: (1) self-employment; (2) microenterprise; (3) new business ventures; (4) business expansion through the provision of technical or financial assistance to private employers to create new jobs; and, (5) non-traditional employment development initiatives.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:

Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:   Grants are made to nonprofit organizations (including community development corporations) tax exempt from Section 501(a)of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by reason of paragraphs 501(c)(3) or (4) of such Code. Faith based organizations that are exempt from taxation under Sections 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code are also eligible to apply for JOLI program funds.

Beneficiary Eligibility:   Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals, whose income does not exceed 100 percent of the official poverty guidelines may be served through this program.

Credentials/Documentation:   Applicants must include with the application written evidence of the local TANF agency's willingness to enter a cooperative agreement. Applicants are encouraged to include with the application written evidence of a partnership with the local Child Support Enforcement agency. When the applicant involves the use of other organizations', businesses' or agency resources to include funds, facilities, services, etc. or other forms of willingness to cooperate written evidence should be included with the application. All nonprofit organizations and faith based organizations (including community development corporations) exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code must submit proof of this tax exempt status. Grantee's applicable costs and administrative procedures will be determined in accordance with 45 CFR Part 74.

Pre-application Coordination:   This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Program". An applicant should consult the office or the official designated as the Single Point of Contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review.

Application Procedure:   All information and forms required to prepare a grant are published in the Federal Register at 67 Federal Register 8074, Feb. 21, 2002. Copies of the program announcement are available from: OCS Operations Center, 1815 North Fort Meyer Drive, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209, 1800-281-9516. In addition, this announcement is accessible for reading or downloading at: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/kits1.htm.

Award Procedure:   Official notice of approved grant applications is made through issuance of a Financial Assistance Award. Official notice of an accepted application proposal is made through award of a grant.

Deadlines:   Established when grants are solicited. Deadlines for grants are announced in the Federal Register as part of the solicitation of applicants. Closing Date for the Fiscal Year 2002 JOLI Program Announcement No. OCS-2002-06 is: April 22, 2002 as published in the Federal Register (67 Fed. Reg. 8074, Feb. 21, 2002). Should any application deadline extension be allowed under this program announcement, such an extension shall be published in the Federal Register.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:   Generally, solicited grants will be acted upon within 180 days.

Appeals:   Appeals are processed in accordance with HHS regulations in 45 CFR Part 16.

Renewals:   No-cost extensions are available, if formally applied for and approved. If an application is recommended for approval for 1 or more years, the grantee must submit each year a formal request for an extension accompanied by a progress report which will be evaluated prior to a recommendation of continuation.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:   There is no requirement for matching Federal funds, however applicants are encouraged to share in the cost of projects and to mobilize other resources for project implementation. Cooperative letters of resource commitment are given special considered in the review of applications.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:   Grant awards are approved for up to a 3 year project period. The maximum grant for the full project and budget period is $700,000.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:   Required reporting includes: Semi-Annual Programmatic and Semi-Annual Fiscal reporting and Final program and fiscal reporting, which is a cumulative report for the total project operational period. All projects must include an independent, methodologically sound evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities carried out under the grant. Interim Project Evaluation reports must be submitted annually and a Final Project Evaluation report at the end of the project period. Evaluation reporting includes: project evaluation plan, annual evaluation reports, and a final cumulative evaluation report.

Audits:   Audits are conducted in accordance with the requirements in 45 CFR 74 and 92 and OMB Circular No. A-133. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133, (Revised, June 24, 1997), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $300,000 or more in Federal Awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for the year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133.

Records:   Financial and other records of the grant are to be kept 3 years after the termination of the grant or until audited, whichever comes first.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Account Identification:   75-1536-0-1-506.

Obligations:   (Grants) FY 01 $5,500,000; FY 02 est $5,500,000; and FY 03 est $5,500,000.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:  
To $500,000; Average: $437,300.

Eleven grants were awarded in FY 2001. Funded JOLI projects are awarded funds to: 1) create new jobs for TANF recipients and other low-income individuals that will move them to economic self-sufficiency through: self-employment, microenterprise business employment initiatives, new business ventures, or expansion of existing businesses through technical and financial assistance, as well as and through non-traditional employment initiatives (where women and minorities currently represent less than twenty five percent of the work force); 2) test new approaches to solving human services problems through research demonstration grants; 3) collect data for policy, management, and analytical purposes; (4) evaluate programs for efficiency and effectiveness; 5) replicate exemplary projects; and, 6) develop commercially-viable products for the human arena through Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR). It is anticipated that 7 grants will be awarded in fiscal year 2002 and fiscal year 2003.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:

JOLI Program guidelines are published in the Federal Register at: 67 Federal Register 8074 (2/21/2002). Other JOLI Program information is available at: http://www.acf.dhhs/gov/programs/joli/welcome.htm ; Poverty Guidelines: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/02poverty.htm ; and Grants Generally: http://www.hhs.gov/grantsnet.

INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Regional or Local Office:   Not applicable.

Headquarters Office:   Stephen Glaude, Director, Division of Community Discretionary Programs, Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Washington, DC 20447. Telephone: 202/401-9346.

Web Site Address:   http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/joli/welcome.htm

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:

Microenterprise business development, self-employment business training, specialized job training related to new business ventures and/or a specific business expansion project that is designed to create permanent full-time jobs for eligible TANF and other low-income individuals to move toward economic self-sufficiency, and non-traditional employment opportunities for women and minorities that currently represent twenty-five percent of the work force in industries and businesses.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:

Selecting factors include: 1) Organizational experience in program area and staff responsibilities; 2) analysis of need; 3) work program; 4) significant and beneficial impact; 5) third party evaluation; 6) public-private partnerships; and, 7) budget appropriateness and reasonableness.